Microsoft loses ads on Facebook, expands Bing search deal

Facebook is taking back control of display ads on the social networking …

Microsoft and Facebook have ended their advertising deal in which the software giant sold display ads on the social network, while at the same time expanding their search relationship. The announcement comes as a major Facebook redesign is being rolled out gradually to users.

Microsoft will continue to sell search advertising for Facebook, but the social network will take over the selling of its own display advertisements in the US (it began taking over international sales in the last few months). Microsoft said this was a "mutual decision" since "it just made more sense" for Facebook to lead its own advertising strategy. Nevertheless, it's hard to believe the company is happy about losing the advertising section of its partnership, although banner ads weren't doing so well on the site anyway. In fact, Facebook stopped running traditional banner ads altogether when it launched the new design and instead is focusing on selling social campaign display ads.

Meanwhile, Bing will continue to be the social network's exclusive Web-search partner, and that exclusivity will soon go beyond US borders. Facebook users will also get access to more Bing search engine features, Microsoft said, describing it as "a more complete search experience" with "full access to great Bing features beyond a set of links."

Microsoft says users will see Bing updates to Facebook roll out over the coming weeks and months. Four months ago, Microsoft announced a global partnership with Facebook that would bring the social site's status updates to Bing search results, and while the company touched upon that again, it did not give a specific date for when to expect those improvements.